Sink Or Swim?
by ForeverandNevermore
Summary: A MatsuXAo/MaxieXArchie. A Violent storm sends a certain Team Magma leader into the lion's den...But after 20 years of separation, he and the Aqua become not friends, not rivals, but something that no one would have guessed...Will update soon. Sorry '
1. Prologue: Lilycove: 7:30 PM, August 21

Prologue:

"Archibald!" The youth with a deep brown buzz-cut shivered. His companion raised a crimson eyebrow.

"Nice." His voice was childishly sarcastic.

"Shut up, Max."

"Right."

Archibald Briney, called Archie, was a typical nine-year-old boy. Hair barely poking out from his scalp. Short, sure to grow. Tiny tints of muscle were already starting to form in his biceps. His eyes reflected the ocean.

If Archie was typical, Maximilian Rhynston was all but typical. His auburn hair was pin-straight, and long enough now for him to tie it back in a tiny Ponyta-tail, which he often did. He was much taller, horribly thin, and a whiter shade of pale. His ruby eyes and thin eyebrows indicated the blood-red hair he was sure to have later. "Well?"  
"Well, what?"

"Go."

_"Fine."_ A smirk played on Max's thin lips.

After exchanging brief words with his overprotective mother, the normal one turned to his abnormal friend looking shot, a pale undertone polluting his tanned face. "Let's go." His voice was sad and shaky.

"Where, pray?"

"I don't...Someone where no one will ever find us."

A light blush spread over his face as he spoke. "The jetty."

"The jetty?"

"Yes. It's late enough, no one will be there."

"No one but snogging teenagers."

"You're not funny. Seriously, though. No one will be there."

"No one?"

"I promise."

The journey was short, a quick run through the outskirts of the forest and into the meadow that separated Fortree from Lilycove. It was too useful, living in a small, forgotten village between the two.

The rock overhang looked over the shimmering sea. The sun was on its way down, sinking beneath the ocean, casting orange light over the waters.

"Um. Why here?"

Archie frowned. "Look around. Beautiful, right? Like a perfect union between the land, the sea, and the sky. People would die to be in such a picturesque place."

The red-head may have smiled, but he lacked the assurance that was meant to be portrayed. "What happened?"

"I'm moving. To Pacifidlog."

"Why?"

"My mum's company found a new sort of marine mammal there, and her team is being sent down to investigate. And since Dad's a sailor, she has to take me with her."

"Well, at least I can break my news to you without it being too much of a shock."

"Eh?"

"You think you're the only one moving? My mother-"

"You don't have to talk about he if you don't want."

Tears never dropped from the arson survivor's face, but his best friend seemed to carry the burden of sorrow. Internally, Max was killing himself to grieve.

"She put in her will to have me properly educated. Mt. Silver Geological and Earth Science Academy. And I'm not coming back."

Silence.

"I won't forget you."

"I don't think I could ever forget you, Max. You're my best friend. We'll meet again. I'm sure of that."


	2. I: Maxie: The Flood: 12:21 AM, May 29

The night was dark. Well, I should say it was, for if it wasn't, it would have neither be night nor an unnoticeable flood. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

We could feel the rain pounding on the roof of our underground lair. I could see-getting ahead of myself again. _Again._ Goddammit, if I'm going to keep telling bits and pieces, I'll never tell the actual take in its entirety.

Ignoring the pounding rain, I mindlessly worked, reading legend after legend. We were, after all, a fairly new organization, and the notes I had taken were probably the most valuable information we- Shit. I've been too far ahead this whole time. Should it matter how the story goes if my identity is unknown?

They call me many names. Matsu, Max, Matsubusa, Maximilian. They call me 'Maxie' now. Yes, Maxie, the so-called evil and corrupted leader (not to mention founder) or the ruthless, reckless Team Magma. Maxi, a mocking name from my childhood. Maxie, a force who would stand unopposed if not for the interference of a certain deluded, musclebound idiot. Maxie , a man who recognizes the world screaming for change but is scorned for bringing the change by conservative fools.

"Boss!"

"What the hell do you want, Tabitha?"

"We're flooding."

"Shit." I continued to curse bitterly and burst from my chair. "Get the idiots who haven't gotten out out! And protect our more valuable Pokèmon. We can't _afford_ to lose what little we have!" He stared at me dumbly, almost as if to say, 'anything else?' "Well, _go!" _

He nodded and left. I scrambled to get my research, days, weeks, hell, years worth, into waterproof bags that we had lying around for some unknown reason. Ignoring the convenience, I focused on the dirty water beginning to emerge from under the door. I felt my heartbeat rise to a psychopathic rate. To a man who can't swim, being in a room surrounded by water is a death sentence. The door cracked. Brown water squirted from splits in the grain.

I held a stone tablet close to my chest. This was a sink or swim situation, and since the latter was out of the question, I settled on the former. The stone would help, actually. If I must die, it better be quickly.

I remember a sickening split of wood and the rush of water as nature pulled me into her watery grave.


	3. II: Archie: The Beach: 5:30 AM, May 29

A/N: As you can see, I'm posting in tiny blocks of writing. That way, I can have this up faster.

I never cared much for others opinions. So why should I care what anyone says about my hobby of beach-combing? Yeah, so that when they (They being the oh-so-kind Administrator Shelly) call my pastimes unorthodoxly feminine, I don't really care. I don't, nor will I ever, give a damn one way or another, as it is with most things. But really, you can find the most interesting stuff on the beach after a storm. Like strangely familiar men holding stone tablets.

He had seemed to float like driftwood until he washed ashore. Salt and the remnants of gel slicked his crimson hair away from his face. His skin was pale, his features delicate. It seemed as if touching him would break him. Yet, under the crystal beauty lay a steel heart. Or was it the opposite? It didn't matter. He was unconscious.

When I allowed myself to look beyond his face (all the while wondering: I know this guy. Who the hell is he?) It didn't matter that his shirt was in tatters across the right side, or that his left boot was missing, I knew him by the uniform. Red. Black. That damned stylized M.

And a face so familiar it sickens me.


	4. III:Aqua Headquarters: 10:42 PM, May 29

**A/N: FAN here. This next one will go in such order: Max's POV to Archie's, to Maxie's again. There you go. Stop being confused.

* * *

**

I awoke confused. I was in an unfamiliar room, and there was a strange figure above me.

It was like a bad hangover.

As soon as I could un-crust the salt from my mouth I had this come out: 'What the...Where am...where's my...Who-Ah, Hell! I need a drink!"

"So, you're alcoholic now?"

The voice was distinctly Lilycovian, familiar, but I just couldn't recognize it.

"Why should you care? I am me, and you are not, because if you were me, I'd realize who screwed up I am and I wouldn't have asked who you are."

"Wonderful Logic."

"I don't care what you say! Who are you, where am I, and what the hell is going on?"

"Let's shed some light on this."

And there was light. But it was not good.

The room was drab, unpainted concrete walls. The floor was concrete as well. I lay on a bed, lit by only a bare bulb dangling from the ceiling. It swung, casting shadows upon his face.

His tanned face was rough. Eyes like a ocean glinted with friendly malice. They were black holes for interest. I didn't want to break contact, but found myself doing so.

My eyes quickly darted to the rest of his body. He was clothed in a black jumpsuit like thing, a curl of chestnut hair peeking from behind his low neckline. A glint of silver encircled his neck. Around his head, a bandanna bore his standing.

Aqua.

* * *

He stared at me hatefully. I mean, its not like I saved his life or anything.

"Archie."

His voice was neither hateful nor grateful. Just...there. As if he said it just to say it.

They say you have power over something if you can name it. If so, I was at his command. Archie. Aogiri. Ao. Archibald. It was all the same. Me.

"What, Max?" I cocked my head slightly. A very, very faint blush shone under his tired eyes.

He paused, then whispered. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

He raised an eyebrow. "Why would I?"

"Good point."

Silence.

"So , what happened after Pacifidlog?" It was if he expected me to forget that we were archenemies. I smile. Good.

"I was roped into aquatics by a certain matriarch. When I realized how horrible people are with pollution and the ocean, I wanted to, instead of clean up what cannot be undone, I wanted to expand it. The end."

He scoffed, then frowned. "Then how did Aqua come to be?"

"People who felt the same crowded around me, and we started to form a group. But what's up with you. Much has changed, I can see..." I tried to hide the fact that I was eying him. Not a bad version of the boy I knew. Taller, about five foot seven. Pale, feminine features that had hardened with grief and suffering. His hands were like Spinaraks and his arms flexible Ekans. He didn't look all that strong, his chest muscles only slightly developed, giving him an upper body that tapered into thin hips and waist. I tried not to look in his eyes, molten rubies, but I had no choice. He had to trust me. _Had _to.

"Well," he mused, smirking idly at the ceiling, "I went to Mt. Silver Geo, as you know, and there I graduated High School at the age of eleven. I was in my Junior year of college there when I quit. At fourteen, I knew that we're killing the earth, and that I had to stop it. Magma is my way of rebellion against the idiocy that is the human."

I sighed. "I really want to know about the drinking. Would it offend...?"

"No, not at all!" He almost chuckled. "I don't mean to complain, but my life sucks. Come on. I'm an orphan, and the only person I knew was separated from me because of my mother's will. Fucking Jhoto schools. So, I took up drinking. I hated the taste at first, but I got used to it. Then I began to smoke. So yeah. Is that problematic?"

"Just...unhealthy."

"Well," he hissed, "screw that. Life's to short not to enjoy it."

* * *

"I have something to show you."

I furrowed my brow. "What?"

"Well, come on! I'll _show_ you."

I scoffed. "Oh, hell, no. You'll probably lead me into a dark room and kill me there. I know your tricks."

He stared at me with intense hatred. "No, you don't. You know me as well as _I _know _your_ sciences. I speak as I am _completely_ harmless. If you please, just trust me this once. I assure you, I mean no harm."

"Mean no harm!?" My voice rose a few octaves, crackling with anger. "_Mean no harm?! _I know you wish to kill me as I stand! I know you wish the same fate for me as I do to you! I'd sooner-"

"Shut up!" His face glowed with crimson fury. "If I'd wanted to kill you, I would have left you to die! Do you know how many looks I got carrying you inside!?"

I froze. "What!?"

"I don't hate you, not in any way! It doesn't matter what you stand for, Max, you're still my friend! I-" He stopped there.

"What?" I whispered. He replied with a smile.

"I'll tell you when we get there."

* * *

**A/N: CLIFFHANGER! *dramatic music***


	5. IV: The Cave: 11:09 PM, May 29

**A/N: Here's a short one... A very, very short one. Starts with Max, then goes into Archie's POV.

* * *

**

I stared hatefully at the watery depths. "What. The. Hell. No."

"It's fine I'll make sure you don't drown."

"How can I trust you?"

He scoffed, placing his hand of my shoulder. "As I said. If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead already."

"Still no."

"But I want to show you something."

"Ooh. Water. So interesting."

I stood barefoot on the beach where I had recently washed up upon, feeling the cold water lick my feet. The moon was shining upon the water, casting a ghostly reflection in the ebony waves.

"No, there's something underwater."

I laughed. 'Well, that's even better! I'll die _and _never be found! _Splendid!"_

He flicked my head. "Please. Don't act like I don't know you."

I scoffed.

"You can be pissy, but you're still going."

"But-"

"No buts. Walk."

I took five steps into the water. It reached my knees. Archie poked me as a 'Well? Go on!' signal. A whine sounded from the back of my throat. The response was one of those 'don't you make me' looks. With the expression of a five-year-old who just _has_ to clean his room, I shuffled further.

Soon, I was shaking with fear and slight cold. Only my head was poking out of the surface, and I often had to spit the salt solution out of my mouth. Thank Groudon I wasn't skinny-dipping, or I would have frozen to death.

"Now," Archie smiled, suddenly beside me, grabbing my hand, "hold your breath, close your eyes, and kick as fast as you can."

I felt the current carry me away.

* * *

The ocean is my domain. Even with the...well, I shouldn't say deadweight, as that has such a negative connotation, but Max wasn't helping. Not in the slightest. He held my hand incredibly tightly, like a little kid crossing a busy street may do to his mother, and his knuckles were stark white. But that shouldn't be alarming, considering his complexion.

I didn't know how long it was before we resurfaced, but it was a miracle that neither of us passed out.

The entrance to the grotto was at the bottom, and air was kept inside the hollowed rock by pressure alone. It resonated a blue light. The cavern itself wasn't completely submerged; on bright nights, the moon shone through a single hole in the ceiling, and on these nights, I sat alone, thinking.

Max grasped my shoulder to pull himself out of the water.

"Nice," I smirked, and he tried to add a bit of biting sarcasm, but ended up hacking up water. I patted his back lightly, and but slapped my hand away. The intruding liquid spurt out. He cleared his throat, and scoffed,as if to say 'well, I'd like to see you try to hoist yourself out of the water for the first time.' Despite his angry aura, that familiar blush crept across his his cheeks as he lifted himself in lithe, feline movements onto the ground. I followed suit, but with less grace. By the time I sat on the floor of the cavern, he was fondling a stone jutting out of the wall with the fascination of a child with a new toy.

'It's beautiful." His voice was a dull hum, as a machine's, almost.

"Now you see that I don't want to kill you?" He spun around with a look of apology in his blushing face.

"Of course."

"In fact," I continued, happy that he would finally listen to me, "I show you this as a symbol of trust. We are the only two who know about it." When I looked at him, I saw that he was testing the gem he had been so interested in previously.

"What type of rock is this?"

I growled, not meaning to. I've just put all of my trust into my worst enemy, and he's wondering about some stupid rock!?

"If I tell you, would you listen to me?" 'For once,' I added silently.

He seemed glad at this compromise, sitting crosslegged on the floor. "Yes."

I sighed. One thing I really didn't want to tell him until I had made my point. Why? Well, he'd freak out about it.

"In the night, the gems glow blue. During the day, they are red. Why? They are fragments of the original Hoenn Orbs."

* * *

**A/N: Another cliffhanger DX...the yaoi starts in the next chapter ^-^**


	6. V: Maxie: The Cave: 11:10 PM, May 29

I froze in place. "What?"

He smiled, as if he had the upper hand. He did, but I seldom admit to defeat. "If my studies prove correct, each one holds a fragment of the power contained in the orb."

I blinked with feline fascination. "Powerful and beautiful..." and continued to rant until I was assaulted.

I felt the bile rise as he pushed me against the hard wall, lisp pressed firmly to mine. A million thoughts rushed through my mind as he pinned my arms against it, a thick tongue prying my lips open. I tried to squirm away, not knowing if I should be disgusted or enthralled, but the only compensation I got was scraping against the wall until I fell to the floor. I broke with a cry of pain as the rocks dug into my skin.

He head ached, my back was in tatters, and he lay me against his thigh as if it were a pillow.

"What...the...hell...?"

He frowned, trying desperately to cover the vicious gashes on my back with parts of my jacket. I whimpered in agony when he poured salt water over it to purify.

"I'm sorry." His voice was not unlike that little boy's, the one that had told me he was moving all those years ago. "I shouldn't have taken you by surprise..." I snorted. Damn right he shouldn't've. "But Max..."

"What?" My voice was sharper than I had intended. I bit my tongue.

"I guess you know now...I love you."

I blinked, not used to the words out of his mouth. Tears threatened to spill, at the pain, at the confession, at the reunion, and to stay firm, I heard the words 'No shit, Sherlock,' come from my mouth, but, alas, the hot tears ran down my face.

"I've loved you since we were children. I didn't think it was right, so I never told you...I never told anyone...When I heard about Magma, and you, I...these...emotions resurfaced and..I..erm...When I saw you on the beach...I...well..." his words faded as I saw a face I never had seen on him before; his eyes ere cast downward away from me, and a hot blush shone under brown stubble. Uncomfortable silence filled the gaps in which the waves did not lap on the side of the entrance.

I smiled, sympathetic, and raised an arm to turn his face to mine. "I admit it. I shared your feelings those twenty years ago. Now that we're older, I can say that. But I never thought I'd have to. I never thought..." I stopped.

"You'd never thought what?"

"That they'd come back." More tears.

"So, what you're saying is-"

I lifted myself up by his collar until our noses touched. "Miserable idiot! Just shut up and kiss me, would you?"

* * *

**A/N: Aww. Wasn't that sweet?**


	7. VI: Archie: The Cave, His Eyes: 11:15 PM

**A/N: Are you ready for some FLASHBACKS!?

* * *

**

I had a choice not to follow his order, but oh, how I wanted to! It took a Herculean amount of will to only _talk_ to him. "So, getting a taste of what you're deprived from?"

The look on his face nearly screamed, 'What the hell are you implying?!' He tightened his grip on my collar, though the threat was unrealistic.

"Oh, come on, Max. Even _I _know you retain morals, despite being horribly drunk most of the time."

He scowled, nearly pouting. "Now I'm not."

"I know." I laughed and picked his fingers from my neck one-by-one. "You're just one crazy little fucker."

"And just what do you mean by that!?"

"Well, you're insane, smaller than I, and I want to-"

I guess you can infer the rest of the sentence_. He_ certainly did, and the moment the word 'to' was out of my mouth, he took the rest with him, kissing me so damn violently that I could have sworn my lips would fall off. As for the rest of my mouth, I felt a razor-blade tongue explore with tiny flicks that gave the message of 'Feeling mutual. Now let's get on with it. '

I was the one against the wall this time and, he found no problem in undressing me, despite the struggle I had with his high collar. I thanked Kyogre we were barefoot;no matter how I wanted him to battle with my shoes, I couldn't be bothered to take off his. I cursed the ancient Pokemon for having him wear a button-up coat.

Eventually, he broke the embrace just as my clothes were beginning to accumulate on the other side of the cavern. I had a finger around one of the top buttons, and was about to proceed to rip the jacket he always wore. "Don't-" he panted, those fingers like Spinaracks, those loving weapons, running through a short forest of brown hair as he shed my bandanna. I smirked, and did, the cloth ripping easily. Too easily.

He backed against the wall on the opposite side, forging his wounds open again by falling, scraping, to the ground. His voice was a hoarse, sad whisper.

"Go on. Say it."

My attention was first turned to the tears lingering in his eyes, then to the problem that unnerved him so. His chest was scarred, covered on the left side by burns. The skin was a deep grey, a stark contrast to his milk white chest. It extended to his mid-lower arm, flaring up to the middle of his neck, and down until it disappeared under the black fabric of his pants. Even if it was scarred, his chest was so well-defined, as if the scars of the past didn't stop him from developing a physical, feline muscular coating around his psychologically broken, unhealable heart.

"Say it. I'm a freak. I'm disgusting. Look me in the eye and tell me the truth!"

I crawled to him, though wearing only navy cotton boxers, and sat by his shivering, crying form. Gently as I could, I lifted his head up and over, facing mine.

I could see the scene in his eyes, as if he were showing me his memory.

_He waited for her. Gone to Fortree for groceries. She said she'd meet him there, outside town, when she finished work in Lilycove, one of the smallest port towns in the world without even a store to its name. Darkness fell over the meadows of what now is the Safari Zone, then our village, but nor before the smoke was seen rising in the evening sky. _

_He ran._

_The only true home he was ever to know was ablaze, the screams of a woman inside shattering his ears. On the burning door shone an X, paint still wet in places, peeling from heat in others. X, the symbol of a gang no one remembers, a faction of pirates._

_He battled the flames, but they licked his left arm as soon as he was close, his sleeve falling off from burning, but the infection spreading to his skin. _

_The fire department found him unconscious with intense burns, and with him a bag of groceries, a red X on a door, and the burned corpse of his mother._

Our memory faded as his eyes became clouded with tears. As a condolence, I placed a soft kiss on the burned marks around his heart and whispered into his chest.

"You're beautiful."


End file.
